American mob boss of Croatian descent, he was the first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia. He received the nickname “Pegleg” by authorities because of his prosthetic leg.
The youngest of four siblings, Morgan was born to Croatian immigrants. Shortly after his birth his father naturalized as a U.S. citizen, anglicizing the family name to Morgan.
In 1946, aged 17, Morgan beat to death the husband of his 32-year-old girlfriend and buried the body in a shallow grave. While awaiting trial, he escaped using the identification papers of a fellow inmate awaiting transfer to a forestry camp. He was recaptured and sentenced to nine years at San Quentin State Prison.
Morgan was paroled in 1955, but a year later, he returned to prison for an armed robbery at a West Covina bank where he ran off with $17,000. In 1961, Morgan led 11 inmates in a jailbreak from Los Angeles County Jail through a pipe shaft and using hacksaw blades he hid in his prosthetic leg. Morgan committed the first prison gang street execution in Los Angeles in 1971.
Morgan was well respected within the ranks of the Mexican Mafia and became a high-ranking member. His connections with cocaine and heroin suppliers in Mexico helped pave the foundation for the Mexican Mafia’s narcotics distribution throughout California.
On 27 October 1993, he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer while serving a life sentence at California State Prison, Corcoran. His wife requested that he be released on compassionate release, but he died on 9 November 1993 at age 64.
Link to Wikipedia biography